The Memphis City Council voted 5-3 Tuesday to fund a late-in-the-game public information campaign on the three controversial charter amendment questions being posed to voters on the Nov. 6 ballot.

City Council offices have fielded hundreds of requests asking for council input on the three questions, which center on city runoff election procedures and City Council term limits, City Council Attorney Allan Wade said.

Early voting began last week.

Councilman Worth Morgan questioned whether the campaign was in the council's best interest.

Councilman Frank Colvett Jr. disagreed, and said he's gotten a litany of phone calls from people asking what instant runoff voting is.

"This is about education, and we’re doing it in the light of day," Colvett said. "We’re not some shadowy, outside-of-Memphis group flooding this place with money."

There is between $30,000 and $40,000 available in a City Council general fund that could be used for the campaign, City Council Chairman Berlin Boyd said.

It wasn't immediately clear what methods the council will use to disseminate information to the public. Councilman Edmund Ford introduced the council resolution.

Council members Morgan, Kemp Conrad and J. Ford Canale cast the votes against funding the campaign.

The questions ask Memphis voters if they want City Council term limits to be three consecutive four-year terms, which is an extension. The questions also ask if voters want to repeal instant runoff voting in single-district council races, and whether runoff elections should be eliminated for single City Council districts.

A decade ago, Memphis voters overwhelmingly approved instant runoff voting for single-district council seats, which allows voters to choose their first-, second- and third-choice candidates. The second ballot question asks voters if they want to scrap the practice before it begins in the 2019 city election.